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IEBC under siege: Key issues poll official Roselyn Akombe raised on her resignation

roselyn akombe

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati (second rigfht), vice-chair Consolata Nkatha Bucha Maina (left) Commissioners Paul Kibiwott Kurgat and Dr Roselyn Kwamboka Akombe after holding meeting with diplomats at the Bomas of Kenya on Monday, October 02, 2017. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG.

The resignation of Kenya's electoral agency official Roselyn Akombe has exposed a heavily-divided team at the commission led by a chairman who does not seem to be fully in charge.

Dr Akombe fled to New York and resigned Wednesday morning, saying she did not feel safe, and that, as currently constituted, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) cannot hold a credible election on October 26.

She wrote a detailed statement for her resignation, and was interviewed by the BBC Newsday programme.

Here is a collection of what she said on various issues.

Is IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati a man under siege?

In the BBC interview, Dr Akombe suggested a man under siege, and one she said should be more firm.

“Chairman Chebukati is a very well-meaning person. He has a temperament to be able to be a leader, but he is a leader under a siege,” said Dr Akombe.
But is he able? The BBC asked.

“Well, if he was much more firm, I think probably we would have gone much far. There are aspects of his character that are helpful in a situation like we are in. But there are times he just needs firmness to be able to move on,” said Dr Akombe.

Will Kenya have a credible election on October 26?

Dr Akombe feels that as constituted, the IEBC will not be able to conduct a credible election, arguing that things were going wrong that the commission was not telling Kenyans about.

“Can Kenya hold election? Yes. Will it be a credible election? Absolutely not,” Dr Akombe told the BBC.

In her statement, she blamed last-minute instructions on changes in technology and electronic transmission of results, the attacks on the IEBC staff and rushed trainings due to fear, partisan senior secretariat staff and commissioners, and "endless legal suits” and what she said was skewed legal advice to fit political interests.

“The commission in its current state can surely not guarantee a credible election on 26 October 2017,” she said.

“I do not want to be party to such a mockery to electoral integrity.”

What is the state of the IEBC?

Divided.

“It has become increasingly difficult to continue attending plenary meetings where commissioners come ready to vote along partisan lines and not to discuss the merit of issues before them. It has become increasingly difficult to appear on television to defend positions I disagree with in the name of collective responsibility,” said Dr Akombe in her statement.

Can changes still be made at the IEBC to salvage the situation?

No, she said. While she argued that there was enough time to carry out the changes in the commission to guarantee a poll acceptable to both sides, Dr Akombe said that the time had lapsed and the IEBC had not communicated its challenges.

“It is not possible as the commission is constituted now to make changes internally, because you have to have enough votes,” she said, suggesting the heavily-divided commission that she said can no longer agree on anything without a vote.

Are IEBC staff safe?

“I do not feel safe enough to go back home. This is not what I thought it was going to end being as a job,” said Dr Akombe told the BBC.

She told of the fleeing of her brother days after the August 8 annulled poll.

“They were calling her on WhatsApp telling him ‘Tell your sister to relax. Tell your sister not to ask many questions’,” she said in the interview.
As a person, she said, the threats could have come from any of the political sides.

“I have never felt the kind of fear I felt in my own country. If you get those, you will be suicidal to think that nothing will happen to you,” she said.

In her statement, Dr Akombe told of the fears that the IEBC staff had, especially what she said were attacks on trainings.

She singled out attacks and injuries and staff in Mumias, Bungoma, Homa Bay, Siaya, and Kisumu during trainings ahead of the fresh poll.

“It broke my heart in the last few days to listen to my staff in the field, majority of whom truly want to do the right thing, express to me their safety and security concerns,” she said in the statement.

Even when she shared details of the staff fears, she said, she was faced with more extremist responses by commissioners she said were keen to have an election “even if it is at the cost of the lives of our staff and voters.”